LANDSCAPES

Because we live in central Ontario which is relatively

flat, I have always been impressed by the grandeur of

the mountains. When my eyes are drawn up to their

peaks, my spirit is lifted higher as well, and it must be

wonderful to awake and see them from your window

first thing in the morning.

A heightened sense of the observation of nature is one of the chief

delights that have come to me through trying to paint.

(Winston Churchill)

Misty Mountain Morning

One of the magical sights in Nature is that of the

Aurora Borealis as it shimmers over the starlit northern

night. A friend of mine who used to live in Dawson

Creek says that some nights she could actually hear

the music of the Northern Lights.

We all live under the same sky, but we don't all have the same

horizon. (Konrad Adenauer)

This image was used in Seed of The Cosmos found in ‘Our Stories’

Night Glow

When the north winds are blowing, the snow building

up and the temperature below freezing for months on

end, it seems like winter will go on forever. Then we

see the birds returning, snow melting and the breezes

become warmer and we rejoice in the renewal of life.

Today a new sun rises for me; everything lives, everything is

animated, everything seems to speak to me of my passion,

everything invites me to cherish it. (Anne de Lenclos)

And It’s Spring Again

Winter in Ontario lends itself beautifully to

watercolours. In my interpretation of this country scene,

I have tried to capture the feeling of the wind blowing

the snow across the open spaces and the sense of

isolation that accompanies it.

To be isolated is a fine thing and we are then nearer to nature.

(John H. Twachtman)

Country Snowstorm

This is painted from a little book I found in the library.

Many times during our walks near the lake we come

across scenes much like this where the beauty of nature

is enhanced by her creatures.

People mistakenly think that art is about nature, or about an artist’s

feelings about nature. It is instead a path of enlightenment and

pleasure, one of many paths, where nature and the artist’s feelings

are merely raw material. (Wolf Kahn)

Taking Flight

The sound of rushing water in a woodland stream helps

me anticipate the coming spring. The air will warm, trees

will soon leaf out and the stream will slow to a murmur,

but for now the anticipation is all there is, and it is

enough.

Nobody is painting from nature… Painting is painting and you cannot

copy nature. Yet without nature there is no painting. Even abstract

painting cannot exist without it. (Yossef Zaritsky)

Spring Cascade

Painting is largely a right-brain exercise. However, in

my interpretation of a Zoltan Szabo painting, I found

that to create the shadows of the trees (revealing

them by wiping out the blue), the left brain had to

come into play, and I felt almost schizophrenic as I

shifted back and forth to assess the results. It was

quite an experience!

Painting is dancing with chaos. (Melanie Circle)

Midnight Moonlight

The brightness of the sun on the newly fallen snow

makes this a wonderful subject to paint, and one can

almost feel not only the cold, clear air but as well the

warmth of the sun high overhead.

Art is not a handicraft, it is the transmission of feeling the artist has

experienced. (Leo Tolstoy)

Crisp and Clear

Sometimes, when a painting is finished, I think

“Wouldn’t it be better if…?” In this case, I feel that

enlarging it and adding a team of horses and a sleigh

would enhance the spirit of the scene. Maybe –

someday.

Move out of your comfort zone. You can only grow if you are willing

to feel awkward and uncomfortable when you try something new.

(Brian Tracy)

Winter Farm

A sense of stillness and expectancy as fall comes to a

close. Winter will soon freeze the stream and cover all

with a blanket of snow.

Light and darkness, the seasons and weather conditions create

radical changes to our perception of what nature looks like.

(Peter Folkes)

A Quiet Place

I love the colours nature paints into old wood – I think

one could find every colour of the spectrum in some of

these old barns. And then she chooses to put a wild

sumac beside it – what an artist!

It is not the language of painters, but the language of nature which

one should listen to... (Vincent Van Gogh)

A Barn In Ramara

Early morning sunrise, so quiet, no one here but me and

the loon I can hear in the distance. A beautiful

beginning to the day, a time to reflect and give thanks.

If water derives lucidity from stillness, how much more the faculties of

the mind! The mind of the sage, being in repose, becomes the mirror

of the universe, the speculum of all creation. (Chuang Tzu)

Sunrise Solitude

Standing more or less at attention, these birches keep watch over the calmness of their lake.

Perhaps that's why so many artists continue to be drawn to landscape painting, and why there will always be artists compelled to render it. It touches our spirit in a way that perhaps nothing else can. It sparks in us a desire to render on canvas the poetry that viewing it makes us feel, and in some deeper way, connects us to it like a silent prayer. Robert Genn

The Sentinals

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